Scoliosis Care for Durham and Chapel Hill, NC Patients: Dr. Justin Dick in Charlotte

Scoliosis Care for Durham and Chapel Hill, NC Patients: Dr. Justin Dick in Charlotte

By Justin M. Dick, DC, Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center, Charlotte, NC | Last updated October 18, 2026

Durham is about 145 miles from Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center in Charlotte, NC, roughly 2 hours 10 minutes on I-85 South. Chapel Hill adds 10 to 15 miles. At that distance a Charlotte appointment is a planned trip, and the first question is whether the trip changes anything about the plan you already have.

Dr. Justin M. Dick, DC is a CLEAR Scoliosis Institute Senior Fellow and sits on the CLEAR Institute Board of Directors. He does not perform surgery, and he tells families when a curve belongs with a spine surgeon. What he adds is a measured, non-surgical pathway with published case-level outcomes.

Schedule Your Evaluation   Call 980-368-0766

Quick facts for Durham and Chapel Hill families

Item Detail
Road distance to the clinic About 145 miles from Durham (Chapel Hill adds roughly 10 to 15 miles)
Typical drive About 2 hours 10 minutes in ordinary traffic
Main route I-85 South
Clinic Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center, 8814 Rachel Freeman Way, Suite 103, Charlotte, NC 28278
Referral and payment No referral required. Cash-based practice that does not bill health insurance.
Formats Regular outpatient visits or the two-week intensive, chosen after the evaluation

Distances and drive times are road estimates from commercial mapping calculators and vary by starting point, route and traffic. Confirm with your own navigation app.

The drive from Durham and Chapel Hill to Charlotte

I-85 South is the direct route from Durham. It passes Burlington and Greensboro, then Salisbury and Concord, before reaching Charlotte. From Chapel Hill most drivers join I-85 near Durham or Hillsborough. The clinic is in the Berewick Town Center area of southwest Charlotte at 8814 Rachel Freeman Way, Suite 103.

Raleigh, Cary and Wake County families are about 20 to 25 miles further from Charlotte than Durham and have their own page: Scoliosis Care for Raleigh, NC Patients. Greensboro is the usual midpoint stop on this drive.

Visit formats for Durham and Chapel Hill families

At 145 miles, weekly visits are a heavy commitment. Families from Durham and Chapel Hill most often weigh two formats: a spaced-visit plan with a home program between visits, and the two-week intensive. The evaluation findings decide which one is clinically reasonable.

The published intensive cases were 20 sessions over two weeks with ScoliBrace fitting in the second week. That format means two weeks in Charlotte. A spaced-visit plan puts the clinic work into longer blocks and relies on the home program in between, which makes adherence at home the deciding factor.

Questions to settle before leaving Durham or Chapel Hill

If a surgical consultation is already scheduled, put its date next to the Charlotte evaluation date. A non-surgical trial and a surgical follow-up need the same measurements, and the simplest way to get them is one radiograph set with a written report that both clinicians can read.

Ask the academic center for the images on disc or through portal access, and ask whether the Cobb angle was measured on every curve. Dr. Justin Dick compares those films with new findings at Clear Life Scoliosis in Charlotte, NC. The change across dates is the information that matters most for progression.

What the first evaluation in Charlotte involves

Here is what the first appointment covers once a Durham or Chapel Hill family arrives in Charlotte.

  1. History and prior imaging review, including every earlier radiograph and its report
  2. Symptom and goal assessment
  3. Posture and asymmetry evaluation
  4. Range of motion, balance and coordination testing
  5. Neurological screening
  6. Scoliosis-specific examination findings
  7. Imaging review when appropriate
  8. Individualized in-office and home-based care plan
  9. Repeat objective reassessment on a defined schedule

Bring the images themselves (disc or portal access) as well as the written reports, from any orthopedic or surgical consultation. Dr. Justin Dick reviews prior imaging at the first visit and compares it with new findings.

How the approaches compare

Approach What it is aimed at Evidence and limits
Observation Re-measure the Cobb angle on a schedule Does not act on the curve. Reasonable for small, stable curves, and less so when progression is documented and growth remains.
Bracing and scoliosis-specific exercise Limit progression in growing patients and train curve-specific posture and control Addressed in the 2016 SOSORT guidelines (Negrini et al., DOI 10.1186/s13013-017-0145-8).
Spinal fusion surgery Larger or progressing curves Decided with a spine surgeon. Clear Life does not perform surgery.
Clear Life Scoliosis, Charlotte, NC CLEAR protocol (whole body vibration, mirror image traction, scoliosis-specific exercise, mirror image adjustment, cervical correction), ScoliBrace when indicated, documented re-measurement Case reports and a two-patient case series, with no randomized trial. Dr. Justin Dick is the only CLEAR Institute Board member with peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed scoliosis research practicing in the Carolinas, per his practice biography.
What changes for Durham families Travel Weekly visits are heavy at 145 miles. A spaced-visit plan with a home program, or the intensive, are the usual formats.

Published research by Dr. Justin Dick

Durham and Chapel Hill have academic spine programs close to home, so the bar for a drive to Charlotte is evidence. These are the papers, in the order a surgeon would probably question them. According to PubMed, these papers are indexed under Justin M. Dick. Each entry gives the study design first.

A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Analysis of Abnormal Cervical Mechanics in Patients With Scoliosis
Dick JM. Cureus. 2025;17(8):e91098. | Design: Retrospective cross-sectional, descriptive, n=37
In 37 patients with scoliosis, abnormal C3-C4 segmental translation was measured in 70.3% (p=0.0011), and 33 of 37 (89.2%) showed Order 1 cervical buckling. The author reports a correlation between scoliosis, cervical instability, hypolordosis and buckling. The design is descriptive and from one clinic, and it cannot show that cervical mechanics cause scoliosis.
PubMed ID 41018459 | DOI 10.7759/cureus.91098 | Read on this site
A Non-surgical Multimodal Approach to Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (Lenke 5C) Using an Intensive Two-Week CLEAR Institute Protocol: A Report of Two Cases
Whelan J, Paige P, Dick JM. Cureus. 2026;18(1):e102006. | Design: Case series, n=2, no control group
Two female adolescents (mean age 12) with rapidly progressing Lenke 5C curves completed a 20-session, two-week intensive. ScoliBrace was fitted during week two. Lumbar Cobb angles went from 35.7° to 21.7° immediately after the intensive and 10.4° at 12 months (71% total reduction), and from 38.9° to 24.7° and 15.7° (60%). The brace was part of the treatment, so the result belongs to the combination of intensive and brace. The authors call for larger prospective studies.
PubMed ID 41640942 | DOI 10.7759/cureus.102006 | Read on this site

Also published: the 13-month single case report (PubMed ID 40062184; single case report, n=1) and the mild-curve labyrinthine righting reflex case report (PubMed ID 41685001; retrospective single case report, n=1, mild curve).

None of these papers is a randomized trial, and two describe a single patient. They report what happened to the patients treated. They do not predict an outcome for any new patient. The full list is on the Dr. Justin Dick published research page.

A Charlotte opinion alongside an academic spine program

Many families in Durham and Chapel Hill already have an orthopedic or surgical opinion before they call. Clear Life is not a replacement for that consultation. It is a second pathway, and Dr. Justin Dick does not perform surgery.

A non-surgical trial with scheduled re-measurement can run alongside surgical follow-up. The re-measurement dates give both clinicians the same numbers to work from. Ask at the first visit how interval standing radiographs will be scheduled and where they can be taken.

Who you would see in Charlotte

Dr. Justin M. Dick, DC is the treating clinician and owner of Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center in Charlotte, NC. His credentials are listed here. His ORCID is 0009-0001-2794-2159.

CLEAR Scoliosis Institute Senior Fellow and member of the CLEAR Institute Board of Directors; ISICO World Masters certification in conservative scoliosis treatment; SOSORT Provisional Member; Certified ScoliBrace provider; Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) trained; CNMT and ARRT(N)(CT), dual imaging credentials; Adjunct faculty at Life, Sherman and Palmer chiropractic colleges; Multiple peer-reviewed publications indexed in PubMed.

Frequently asked questions: scoliosis care for Durham and Chapel Hill patients

How far is Durham, NC from Clear Life Scoliosis in Charlotte?

Durham is about 145 miles from Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center, 8814 Rachel Freeman Way, Suite 103, Charlotte, NC 28278. The drive is I-85 South and takes about 2 hours 10 minutes in ordinary traffic. Chapel Hill adds roughly 10 to 15 miles. Dr. Justin Dick sees patients from the Triangle at the Charlotte clinic.

Does Clear Life replace the surgical consultation I already have in Durham or Chapel Hill?

No. Dr. Justin Dick does not perform surgery, and Clear Life Scoliosis in Charlotte, NC is a non-surgical option, not a substitute for a spine surgeon's opinion. A non-surgical trial with scheduled re-measurement can run alongside surgical follow-up, and the measurements are shared so both plans use the same numbers.

How often would a Durham family need to travel to Charlotte?

It depends on the format chosen after the evaluation. At about 145 miles each way, weekly visits are heavy, so Durham and Chapel Hill families usually weigh a spaced-visit plan with a home program against the two-week intensive. Dr. Justin Dick sets the format from curve pattern, growth stage and progression history. Call 980-368-0766 to ask about scheduling.

What published research should a surgeon or physician in Durham read first?

Start with Dr. Justin Dick's 2025 Cureus paper, a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of cervical mechanics in 37 patients with scoliosis (PubMed ID 41018459), then the two-patient Lenke 5C case series on the two-week intensive protocol (PubMed ID 41640942). Both are small descriptive or case-level designs, and neither is a randomized trial.

Is there a CLEAR-trained scoliosis clinician in Durham or Chapel Hill?

This page cannot confirm every provider in the Triangle. Dr. Justin Dick practices in Charlotte, NC and is a CLEAR Scoliosis Institute Senior Fellow and Board member. CLEAR Institute maintains its own directory of trained clinicians for families who want to check for a practice nearer to Durham.

Can an adult from Chapel Hill be evaluated for scoliosis in Charlotte?

Yes. Dr. Justin Dick evaluates adults with scoliosis, and the usual goals are curve stabilization, pain reduction and preserved function, set at the first visit. From Chapel Hill the trip is a little over 2 hours each way, so bring all prior spine imaging to avoid a second trip for repeat films.

Do I need a referral from my Durham physician, and does Clear Life bill insurance?

No referral is required. Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center is cash-based and does not bill health insurance. Ask for current fees at 980-368-0766 before the trip from Durham to 8814 Rachel Freeman Way, Suite 103, Charlotte, NC 28278.

Service area

Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center is in Charlotte, NC and sees patients from Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Roxboro, Mebane, Efland, and from Huntersville, Ballantyne, Matthews, Concord and Mooresville in North Carolina and Rock Hill and Fort Mill in South Carolina. Dr. Justin Dick evaluates every new scoliosis patient in person at the Charlotte clinic.

Related pages at Clear Life Scoliosis

Schedule an evaluation in Charlotte

If you are weighing the drive from Durham or Chapel Hill, call the office and describe the curve history and any surgical consultation already on the calendar.

Schedule Your Evaluation   Call 980-368-0766

Clear Life Scoliosis and Chiropractic Center
8814 Rachel Freeman Way, Suite 103
Charlotte, NC 28278
980-368-0766 | office@clearlifescoliosis.com
Book online at JaneApp | Dr. Justin M. Dick, DC